Jay Carisella Invitational: Overview

In all of my years of coaching, I can honestly never remember saying or thinking: "Wow, that was a really high quality meet" ... in December. The pre-New Year timeframe for indoor track usually means low-key meets and mostly forgettable performances. Saturday's Jay Carisella Invitational, hosted by Northeastern University but held at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center, was a rarity: A high-quality meet in December. There were some national and regional caliber performances run by some very strong individuals.

For our program, the meet and the weekend was productive and fun. In no particular order ...
--We were able to welcome numerous new members of our track and field squad to the world of collegiate track. In a few instances, it was the first indoor track meet in which some of our athletes ever competed. They adjusted to the new sport quite well.
--Because it was an overnight journey with a limited travel squad, we were able to enjoy some comfortable bus rides and team bonding time with a definitely energetic group of tracksters.
--We welcomed family and friend support old and new to the fold.
--Our hotel served a complimentary breakfast buffet, with unlimited coffee. Nicely done.
--For an early season meet that usually features, as stated earlier, mostly unremarkable times, we had some solid efforts and some personal-best marks. Again, for December 1, we'll take it, and it bodes well for the next several months.

This is our one and only meet before the holiday break. We have one more week of practice before final exams, then finals, and then our athletes scatter to their respective home bases for the holidays before returning in January for intersession training and racing.

I am working on the meet results and splits now and will try to post them before the evening is complete.